Polishing Your Prose: Tips for Self-Editing
Help your freelance writing land better with editors and increase your chances of getting published with these 11 proven tips for self-editing.
Wait! 5 Novel Editing Questions to Ask Before Your Book Is Actually Done!
In this post, Kris Spisak shares 5 novel editing questions to ask before any next steps in the publishing process, including "does your story have a strong narrative drive," "is your protagonist too passive," and more.
The Psychology Behind Poor Early Drafts and 5 Steps to Making Sense of Them
Mackenzie Belcastro addresses writers who are despairing over their early drafts, highlighting five ways you can persevere and discover your story within them.
7 Strategies for Revising Your Novel
The rewrite is tougher than the draft. But the right rewrite strengthens your fiction into something that lasts to publication and gains a significant readership. Boost your novel-polishing skills with these seven strategies.
Proof Reading: Catching Wrong-Word Errors
Learning how to catch wrong-word errors will help you prevent them and correct them while you're proof reading your work.
The Copy Editing and Proofreading Checklist All Writers Need
Here are 26 important items you should check when copy editing and proofreading your manuscript.
9 Ways You Succeed When Your First Draft Fails
For every way our first drafts fail, they get us farther down the road to success. Here's what you can learn from your first draft.
5 Key Questions Writers Should Ask When Revising Writing
As a longtime nonfiction book and magazine editor, I’ve given notes on revising numerous manuscripts and articles. Here's what all writers should know.
6 Things to Consider After You Write Your First Draft
Here are a few things to consider after you’ve written your first love—uh—I mean draft.
10 Reasons Why Freelance Writers Shouldn't Use Autocorrect on Mobile Gadgets
I strongly recommend bloggers to turn off the autocorrect on your phone. And here are 10 reasons to assure you.
The Art of Writing is in the Rewriting
Writing is about getting down to it, about finding your way into the moment and sustaining the energy for as long as you can effectively. But the REAL writing is during revision.
7 Reasons to Write an Entire 1st Draft before Going Back to the Beginning
There are important benefits of writing a novel or memoir from beginning to end before going back and starting again. Here are seven of them that you should know.
Cut Your Story Down to Size
Is your manuscript too long? Many of the queries I receive begin, “In my 200,000-word novel….” I stop right there. As I tell all of my clients, I can’t sell anything over 120,000 words by a first-time writer. “Help me cut it,” they say, knowing that I spent some 15 years as an editor before becoming an agent.
How to Edit and Polish Your Writing
Most manuscripts start out a little messy. Try these thoughtful approaches to polishing your prose.
5 Ways to Deal with Word Repetition
Word repetition can really weigh down your writing and slow down readers. Try out these five simple ways to tackle word repetition and improve your writing skills.
The 7 Deadly Sins of Self-Editing
Avoid these tempting traps, and save yourself from the kind of painful revision that can lead your manuscript to eternal damnation.
Can Critiques Be Useful Before a Draft Is Complete?
Is it a good idea to get feedback before you've finished your first draft or should you wait until it’s completed? Here's what you need to consider before handing off your work to others for critiquing.
How to Revise Your Writing (& Awesome Editing Symbols You Should Know)
Maybe I'm a nerd, but I love the editing process. I love recasting sentences to make them stronger, choosing specific words to make dialogue sing, correcting grammar until it's fit to print and drawing little squibblies all over the page (mainly because I like the way squibblies look). Honestly, I use editing marks so much that sometimes I get bored with the usual suspects and make up my own.